Eating faeces and drinking urine are considered distasteful by most
people yet they both have a long history. Coprophagia is usually practiced by
sexual deviants or as a form of bodily mortification. Imbibing urine, on the
other hand, is regarded by some as a legitimate medical practice... although
not always.
In 701 BCE, for example, Sennacherib, King of Assyria, was poised to
capture Jerusalem. Rab-shakeh, Sennacherib’s emissary, threatened the
Israelites on his master’s behalf.
But Rab-shakeh said unto them, Hath my master sent me to thy master, and to thee, to speak these words? Hath he not sent me to the men which sit on the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own piss with you?
(2 Kings 18:27)
Proverbs, on the other hand, appears to be giving advice rather than
trying to intimidate.
Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.
Let them be only thine own, and not strangers' with thee.
(Proverbs 5:15-17)
Pondering this, John Armstrong, a consumptive living in Britain in the
1920s, wondered whether this really was a reference to the body's own water.
Ignoring the prevailing medical opinion of the day, Armstrong began drinking
his urine, cured himself of consumption and eventually wrote a best-seller on
the subject, The Water
of Life (1944). However, this practice has been going on in India for centuries.
The prophet Ezekiel, on the other hand, was ordered by God to cook some
rather strange bread.
And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it with dung that cometh out of man, in their sight.
(Ezekiel 4:12)
It’s debatable as to whether this means that the faeces should be mixed
in with the barley cakes or whether it should be used as fuel but, in either
case, Ezekiel balks at this part of the recipe. Quite reasonably, he points out
that his soul is not polluted and he has no intention of putting something so
abominable in his mouth. God duly allows Ezekiel to use cow’s dung instead.
You do realize that this is in reference to cities experiencing multi-year ancient sieges, right?
Posted by: Jsquaredrev | April 11, 2012 at 04:54 AM